The woman behind the lifestyle site that doesn’t suck

It’s 2016, and the publishing industry is in disarray. The homepage has been declared dead, while ad blockers and Facebook’s aggressive push with Instant Articles are eating into what little advertising revenue is left. Even natively digital media companies are struggling to make ends meet.

But with 25 million unique visitors per month on their site, over 175 million users across its channels, and over 2 million email subscribers, Refinery29 prove that they’re not your typical company.

Against all odds, the company’s Co-founder and Executive Creative Director Piera Gelardi and her team have built a media company – now with more than four hundred employees – that millennials actually love.

With a focus on fashion and lifestyle, Refinery29 has been able to leverage the trend of native advertising without alienating its readers.

In fact, their readers are some of the most loyal out there, averaging 7 page views and 3.5 minutes on site during each visit. If that wasn’t enough, 50% of all Refinery29 visitors also return to the site 6 times a month. And if THAT wasn’t enough, 30% of all Refinery29 visitors return a ridiculous 50+ times a month.

In other words, dedication is not dead. You just need to know how to nurture it, and Piera Gelard and her team seem to have done a good job at that.

See her at TNW NYC

At TNW NYC on November 16th, Piera will be joined by a meticulously selected group of world-class speakers, including Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman, Mattermark Co-founder and CEO Danielle Morrill, Slack Co-Founder and CTO Cal Henderson, and Buffer Co-founder and COO Leo Widrich.

There are some pretty good stories behind why we selected each of them – read them onour speaker page.